News

IPTV Seen by Telco's as a Key Step into Connected Home Market (21/10/2005)

Twelve major telcos have confirmed they will speak at Junction's The Connected Home event at London's Olympia on 25 and 26 October. Most are already looking beyond IPTV deployments to the introduction of wider home network services to consumers.

Andrew Burke, CEO of BT Entertainment says the telco has firm plans to make content available across multiple devices in the home; "We want to make sure that the core work we do in delivering video across broadband is seen on as many devices as possible, with a consistent interface and look-and-feel. That is one of the most important elements of our strategy." Mr. Burke confirmed BT's summer 2006 roll-out of IPTV at Junction's previous event, the Enhanced TV Show and Mobile TV Forum.

The IPTV set-top boxes of today could well evolve into the primary digital home gateways of tomorrow. Speaker Miroslaw Smyk of Cesky Telecom says; ""My vision is that consumers will have access to a personal connected home self-care and web portal with access to all services, including IPTV. They will be able to use and select a range of multi-network services dynamically."

Event speaker Gerhard Faltner of Telekom Austria answers issues of consumer acceptance; "IPTV is delivering a new way to enjoy entertainment in a convenient and interactive way on your television. Logically the consumer will expect and demand more and more functionality from this "control centre" without moving away from the comfort of his sofa. Therefore, the integration of the IP-STB in the home network and the addition of relevant services in the context of the connected home is the next logical step."

The full speaker line-up will include representatives from Belgacom, Cesky Telecom, Telefonica, BSkyB, T-Online, Telewest, Telecom Italia, BT, Telecom Italia Wireline, Telecom Austria and O2. Each will offer their perspective on market development, sharing case studies and defining challenges.

www.the-connected-home.co.uk